


Gotham’s Golden Rule

by McKat



Category: Gotham (TV)
Genre: Case Fic, First Kiss, Getting Together, Gun Violence, M/M, Thanks, but not graphic, can we all agree that Jim is very pretty?, kind of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-08
Updated: 2021-02-08
Packaged: 2021-03-14 13:07:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,526
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29296383
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/McKat/pseuds/McKat
Summary: Harvey Bullock is in love with his partner, and scared for the day that Gotham’s Golden Rule comes true, one way or another.Maybe it won’t, though. And maybe Jim is the hero Harvey needs.
Relationships: Harvey Bullock & Jim Gordon, Harvey Bullock/Jim Gordon
Comments: 2
Kudos: 13





	Gotham’s Golden Rule

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, my loves. I've never written this pairing, but I've been re-watching Gotham (don't judge me) and I had this idea at 11pm, which is when most of this was written, and on my cell phone, so please excuse any typos.
> 
> There is some gun violence in here, but not graphic, and not nearly canon-typical gore. 
> 
> Takes place around mid-to-late first season.
> 
> ——-
> 
> Originally called “Chiaroscuro” but I discovered there is an existing work for this pairing with that title—this is why we should check. But alas. I did not.

“Gotham’s golden rule: no heroes”

——-

Harvey had seen his type before, the idealistic pretty boy that had determined Gotham could be cleaned up. Watched a fair share of them make their way through the rank and file. 

One of two things would happen. 

They would get worn down by the cold reality of the world, the filth in every square inch if you knew where to look, and eventually become just as jaded as any other old-timer. 

Or they would die. 

He’d heard the song enough he could sing the chorus, could tell what cases would break the latest heart of gold, one way or the other. 

His own heart had grown tarnished and cracked as he watched. 

Maybe he had never been a hero. Maybe he had always been a cowardly cynic. He’d heard that gold don’t rust, but that’s what he was. A pile of rust. Any shine that had once been there faded away. 

——-

He drank extra the night after Jim was assigned as his partner. Another hero. Another stubborn pretty boy that would ignore the first rule of Gotham. 

Another death on Harvey’s conscience. 

Because this one, he could tell, was going to be bound and determined to fix things until his final breath. The only question was how long that would take. 

The last thing Harvey expected was to fall for Gordon. He had tried everything he could not to, but to no avail. 

It had been a while since he’d let himself get attached to this type, the kind so cursed with heroism, on whom shining armor would still seem dull in comparison. 

When Jim was taken from him, and he knew it was going to happen, it wasn’t going to be pretty. 

As he fell deeper for the new kid, though, he saw under Jim’s surface. He wasn’t quite like the fallen heroes of the past—there was a darkness. He could see it in the interrogation room and on foot chases. The clear blue eyes would cloud, like a storm brewing over the ocean, and Heaven help whatever poor son of a bitch was about to be on the receiving end of such a force of nature. 

The darkness and light in Jim was divided by a tightrope, and Harvey watched him walk it every day. 

Then came the day he _truly_ saw Jim’s darkness. 

——-

It was a rookie mistake. He must have been too heavy with the drink that day. This case just had that feel to it, like an arthritic on a cold morning, and he couldn’t stop himself. 

A judge, two lawyers, and now a detective. All four discovered missing. All four dead a day later. All four tortured. Jim and Harvey caught the case, naturally. Between Jim’s willingness to throw himself headfirst into danger and the rest of the department not-so-subtly hoping that Jim would become unlucky number five, Harvey had known the case was going to them. 

He watched Jim look through files, scouring every piece of potentially important evidence. 

“Why these guys, though?” Jim murmured. “What do they have in common?”

“I don’t know. That detective though, Lewis, was a good guy. I didn’t know him well, but he and I ended up between partners at the same time and caught a case together a few years ago. I liked working with him.” Harvey sighed and took a swig from his flask. “Waste of a good cop.”

Jim nodded, still flipping through pages, when he stopped suddenly. “You and Lewis… you worked together?”

“Yeah. Why? Jealous?” 

Jim rolled his eyes. “No, Harvey, I think…” he got up and ran to the evidence room. “Be right back, he called over his shoulder. 

Harvey watched him hurry off, frowning about what his partner could have figured out. He was brought out of his train of thought when he saw a familiar face approach his desk. 

He stood and walked down to where the small woman was standing, looking nervous. 

“Mrs. Terry, are you okay?”

She nodded. “Yes, I hate to bother you, Harvey, I’m just…” Someone knocked a heavy file onto the floor with a thud, and the woman jumped. 

Harvey noticed her edginess and gently placed a hand on her elbow, leading her outside. “Let’s get some fresh air, you can tell me what’s wrong.” 

Once outside, she seemed to relax a little bit. “As I was saying, I hate to bother you Harvey, I just… I heard about your coworker, Detective Lewis. The two of you handled my husband’s case so well, and I wanted to thank you again, and give you my condolences.”

“Thank you, Sydney. Now, if you don’t mind my prying, what else is wrong? You’re pretty jittery.” 

She sighed, brushing a lock of blond hair behind her ear. “I’m scared, Harvey. I read the news. These deaths, they’ve all been connected to my husband’s case.”

Harvey thought back to the Terry case. “You’re right. I hadn’t even noticed. Do you want protection?”

“No, I was just wondering if you had any.”

Then a hand covered his mouth and nose, and the world went dark.

——-

Jim finally found the right case file and, with a wave to Miss Kringle, ran back to his desk to find the area empty of his partner. He looked around and saw Ed in the loft area above the captain’s office. “Nygma!” he called, waving to the man to come down the stairs. 

“Have you seen Harvey? I just left him. I think he’s in danger.”

“A woman was standing at the entrance and approached him once you walked away. Detective Bullock left with her. Did you finally realize the link between these murders? _Wherever you look, I’m always behind, but I am still there in your mind.”_

Jim thought for a moment. “The past. I’ve gotta go find him. Thanks, Ed!”

“Anytime, detective,” Ed called after him. 

——-

Harvey woke up with his hands tied behind his back around a pole in the middle of a room. It was dark, the window on his left too grimy to help matters. 

The building was cold and smelled of salt, and he listened carefully for a moment and realized he heard waves. He was at the docks. The building he was in was familiar, but he couldn’t quite shake past the fog leftover from the chloroform to figure out why. 

“Hello?” 

A door opened a little ways in front of him and he could vaguely make out two figures entering the warehouse before the light above him was switched on. He squinted his eyes shut against the sudden light. 

“Sydney?”

“Hello, Harvey,” the shorter of the two figures answered. 

Harvey blinked a few times, willing his eyes to adjust quicker. The other figure entering was a tall man that looked a lot like her. 

“What’s going on?”

“I need information and I hope you happen to know it. I’m just glad I got you away from that pretty little partner of yours. I’d have hated to kill him to get to you.”

“Is Jim okay?” That was when the panic set in, when she mentioned Jim. He was his hope for escape, but not just that. He didn’t want to analyze why else he might be upset about Jim getting hurt, though.

“He’s still at the Police Department. He’ll never find you here. You recognize it, don’t you?”

Finally it hit him. “This is where we found your husband and the woman he had killed.”

“That ‘woman’ he killed was our _sister.”_ She gestured between herself and the silent tall man. _Her brother_ , Harvey gathered. “The police never bothered to figure out who she was. Just a poor little hooker, right?”

Harvey frowned, shaking his head. “Why didn’t you tell us that?”

“Because I knew it wouldn’t _matter._ You needed his testimony to take down his suppliers. My sister’s killer has been living nice and cosy in witness protection.” She was close enough and Harvey’s eyes had adjusted enough that he could see her better. She was angry, her voice high and emotional.

“I’m sorry, Sydney. I am.”

“Well, you can prove it. Tell me where he is.”

“That’s what this is about.” Harvey thought out loud, trying to buy time before… anything. “That’s why you killed those people. You thought they would know where he was sent. I don’t know. They don’t tell me that kind of stuff.”

“You must have an _idea._ ”

“Why now?”

She stopped, still for a moment. “What?”

“Why now? It’s been a long time. Why are you trying to get revenge on him now?”

“My brother here was in prison.”

The man spoke up for the first time. “I ran with Syd’s husband. I got arrested a week before he killed Angie. I saw the way he looked at her… I should have protected her.” 

She put a hand on his arm. “It’s not your fault. I should have, too.” Turning back to Harvey, she continued: “I was out of town when she was killed, visiting our father. I had tried to talk her out of… her job. I tried to get her to come with me. I tried everything.”

“I remember now,” Harvey said softly. “That’s why you weren’t put in Witness Protection alongside him—you got back into town after his testimony and it was too late.”

“I wouldn’t have gone with him, anyways. I just wish I had thought to try and figure out where he was. We hadn’t planned on this, if you believe that. I was at a law firm, finally getting a divorce, when I bumped into my husband’s defense attorney. He didn’t remember me, which makes sense, I suppose. But he was so… arrogant. Pleased with himself. While I’ve been in so much pain for so long…” She trailed off, the silence filled by the humming of the dying bulb above their heads. 

“I understand wanting to get revenge. I really do. I wish I could help, but I really don’t know anything.”

The man started towards him, pulling a gun out, when the door opened again. “GCPD. Freeze!”

Harvey looked to see Jim standing in the doorway. “He’s got a gun!” he called at his partner. 

“Drop the weapon.” Jim walked towards them slowly, and Harvey could make out the dangerous expression on his face. 

The man held it out slowly. “Where’s your backup?”

Jim didn’t answer. 

Then things happened very quickly, but Harvey didn’t look away from Jim the entire time. 

Sydney’s brother moved to shoot at Jim, but Jim shot him in the chest first. As he fell, Sydney pulled out her own gun that Harvey hadn’t even seen. Luckily, Jim saw her moving and shot her, too, before running to Harvey’s side, kneeling beside him to free his hands.

“Jim! How did you find us?”

“I found the case file. I realized the link between all of the victims and knew that you were probably next. Are you okay?” He helped Harvey stand and was looking him over for any injuries with an expression so much softer than the dark look he wore when looking at Harvey’s captors. Harvey looked over his partner in return, noticing how the dying bulb above their head painted half his face in light, casting the other half in darkness.

“I’m fine. I could kiss you, man.” He hadn’t meant to say it, but there it was.

Jim bit his lip and looked away, seemingly embarrassed. “I should call for a couple of ambulances. 

“Jim… thank you.”

“You’d do the same for me.”

They both knew it.

——-

“The doctors said they’ll both be okay,” Harvey said when he sat at his desk across from Jim later that day, back at the department. 

“Good,” Jim answered. “What did they say about you?” 

“That I’m fine.”

“Good,” Jim said again.

“How are you?”

“I wasn’t the one kidnapped.”

Harvey just raised his eyebrow, waiting for Jim to answer.

His partner sighed. “I’m okay, Harv. I’m just… I thought you were in danger, and I still decided to leave you. I shouldn’t have done that. I should have kept an eye on you.”

“Don’t,” Harvey said, sternly. “I’ve seen what happens when people blame themselves. It is not your fault, okay? I was dumb, not paying enough attention. I’m okay, and even if I weren’t, you can’t blame yourself.”

Jim took a deep breath and rubbed his eyes. 

“I’m going to go to my place and eat,” Harvey started, trying to build up the courage to ask “if you want to come too?”

Jim thought for a moment before nodding. “Okay. Thanks.”

——-

Later that evening they were at Harvey’s, drinking and eating pizza. “I just feel bad for them,” Harvey said after a few more than he probably should have had. “They lost their sister, and the man responsible didn’t even serve any time.”

“I know. I hate that some people just get away like that.” Judging by the slur of his voice, Jim was in a similar state. 

They were quiet for a moment before Jim spoke up again. “Did you mean it?”

“Mean what?”

“When we were in that warehouse and you said you could kiss me.”

Harvey felt his face flush, and hoped Jim would attribute it to the drink. “Why do you ask?”

“I just…” Jim looked away and took another drink. 

“If I did… mean it. What would you… Um…” Harvey trailed off, not sure what he wanted to ask.

Jim looked back towards him and met his eyes. Harvey was reminded both of his expression as he shot Sydney and her brother and of the gentleness from when he was making sure he wasn’t hurt.

Harvey wasn’t sure where he got the bravery to say it. “I love you. I have for a while. I couldn’t say anything, because I didn’t want to lose you.”

“You do?” 

“That can’t surprise you. I mean, look at you.”

Jim flushed a light pink that somehow made him even more attractive. “I just… I do. Too. I… um…” He ran a hand through his close-cropped hair. “I’m not good at this.”  
  


“Me either. But what I’m getting at is, yeah, I meant it.”

Before he knew what was happening, he had a lapful of his partner, Jim kissing him hard. Harvey’s brain stopped, but luckily his hands went into autopilot and closed around Jim’s hips.

Jim pulled away, forehead pressed against Harvey’s. “Sorry. I should have-”

“Don’t—don’t apologize for that.”

“I was afraid—I thought I had lost you today.” Jim pulled him into another kiss. Despite being drunk, he was still a very good kisser. Or maybe that was just Harvey’s own inebriation. 

“You can’t lose me that easy. You need me to keep you out of trouble.”

——-

The next morning, Harvey rolled over to see Jim still asleep, half his face lit from the rising sun out the window, the other half in shadow. 

Jim had a darkness in him. Harvey knew it. But as long as he still had that light, Harvey was going to be in love with him, and he knew it.

For once, that didn’t scare him. 

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you liked it! Be sure to let me know if you did! I may write more of these two in the future.


End file.
